RRT meets RDD: statistical strategies for assuring response privacy in telephone surveys

Area of Science:

• Survey Methodology
• Statistical Privacy

Background:

• Telephone surveys are increasingly used in research.
• Statistical procedures for response privacy, like randomized response techniques, are underdeveloped for telephone surveys.

Purpose of the Study:

• To demonstrate the feasibility of administering response privacy procedures in telephone surveys.
• To explore randomized response techniques and their alternatives for telephone data collection.

Main Methods:

• The study considered the administration of randomized response techniques.
• It also examined alternatives to randomized response methods.

Main Results:

• Statistical procedures for response privacy are as feasible in telephone surveys as in face-to-face surveys.
• Both randomized response techniques and alternative methods are viable for telephone administration.

Conclusions:

• Response privacy methods are applicable to telephone survey research.
• This research supports the integration of privacy-preserving statistical techniques into telephone survey designs.